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Return To Oz (NBC TV special)
Return To Oz is a 90-minute animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass. It first aired February, 9, 1964, on NBC's General Electric Color Fantasy Hour. It was directed by F.R. Crawley, Thomas Glynn, and Larry Roemer from a teleplay by Romeo Muller. Rankin/Bass also produced the animated series, Tales Of The Wizard Of Oz, and brought similar artistic renditions of large headed and small bodied character designs to the special. Plot Dorothy Gale receives a magic letter from the scarecrow telling her that everything is going all right in Oz, everyone is happy with the gifts the wizard gave them, and that they miss her very much. She goes to find her magic silver shoes and is instantly taken back to Oz again when the letter folds into a paper airplane and whips up a cyclone that blows her and Toto there, this time not by house, but an apple tree. Once she arrives there, she is greeted by the munchkins in Munchkinland. Glinda arrives to tell her that the previously melted wicked witch of the west has become reconstituted and is wreaking havoc again: having taken the scarecrow's diploma and burned it up, destroyed the heart of the tin man by turning herself into a tin woman, and dropping him into a pond where he rusted over again, has also stolen the medal that belonged to the cowardly lion and turned it into a daisy, and is planning to get Dorothy's silver shoes again. Dorothy sets off to find her friends, without knowing the wicked witch is watching them in her crystal ball. She finds and oils Rusty who has rusted after the witch tricked him, they find Socrates in a corn field on a pole scaring crows again and get him down, and they find Dandy crying, and after some unexpectedly cruel bullying from Socrates and Rusty, they cheer him up. After the four friends are reunited, they arrive at the emerald city, only to be tricked by the witch, who has captured the wizard and taken over as the ruler of Oz. He tells them to destroy her again and he will give them what they want. She arrives back at her castle just before Dorothy and her friends, but before they arrive she sends flying alligators to kill them. Socrates' quick thinking saves them when they hide under his straw. Rusty saves them from a lighting bolt, which kills him, despite his being made of tin. Dorothy asks Glinda if she will help and a glowing ball brings him back to life. They arrive and are trapped by the witch. She grabs Dorothy and tries to take her silver slippers. The gang and the wizard try to get her back from the witch, who gives her and Dandy the slippers. Dorothy, who is being held upside-down from the window, tells Dandy that he will turn to stone if he takes them. The witch takes them only to be turned into stone, crumble, and fall apart. The gang returns to the emerald city, only to find out that the wizard is a humbug once again. Glinda appears to tell Dorothy the reason that her friends didn't turn to stone was because they had brains, a heart, and courage. She also explains that the witch was cruel and heartless, brainless enough to think evil could conquer good, and cowardly in that she used slaves and suppressed others. Dorothy wishes to go back, and instantly a Kansas twister whisks her and Toto back home to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry again. Cast of characters Carl Banas as Dandy the lion and the wizard of Oz Susan Conway as Dorothy Gale (speaking) Susan Morse as Dorothy Gale (singing) Peggi Loder as Glinda the good witch of the north Larry D. Mann as Rusty the tin man and the wicked witch of the west Alfie Scopp as Socrates the scarecrow Category:TV Shows Category:The Wizard Of Oz